Freire and the Construction of New Critical Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Paulo Freire's work is not limited to the field of education. It constitutes a structured project of social change. It is, thus, a political project, centered in, but not limited to, the educational field. Education, using the Freirean view, serves as a window for understanding society in all its dimensions and the social dynamics that support the construction of new knowledge. In this sense, education is an epiphenomenon, a reflection of the cultural, social, and political dimensions as lived by a society in a certain historical time. Knowledge acquisition is, therefore, a nonneutral stance. Truth is not untouched by politics, neither an absolute concept. By pursuing the truths underlining the political process of education, Freire aligns with qualitative research, whose tenets include a nonconformity with the supposedly established truths as given in the social fabric of the market ideology and the hegemonic in the contemporary sociopolitical arena.